NDC Represented at Manufacturing Community Roundtable In Lowell, MA

February 20, 2014

NDC’s Dan Marsh will speak today on the Key Solutions Panel at the Manufacturing Community Roundtable in Lowell, MA. The panel will discuss potential resources available to address key challenges in the region, Dan will be joined by local and state officials as well as other Non-Profit and For-Profit organizations looking to promote manufacturing growth in Lowell.

The event will explore how to promote manufacturing reuse, primarily in two key areas of the city that are undergoing revitalization―the Hamilton Canal District at the gateway to downtown Lowell, and the Ayer’s City Industrial Park. Revitalization of the Hamilton Canal District will turn 15 acres of vacant and underutilized land into a new and vibrant mixed-use neighborhood. The Ayer’s City Industrial Park will focus on supporting and enhancing existing businesses, attracting new development, creating new jobs, creating attractive links between residences and the district, and enhancing connections to natural resources.

The Obama Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will partner with the City of Lowell, the State of Massachussetts, and regional economic development leaders, to hold a “Manufacturing Community Roundtable” on February 20. The Lowell Manufacturing Community Roundtable will promote public-private and intergovernmental partnerships focused on revitalization in the Hamilton Canal District and Ayer’s City Industrial Park for a resurgence of manufacturing jobs. It will address key issues including manufacturing site and brownfields reuse, infrastructure, workforce development and job training, and the improvement of community and housing conditions. The meeting will include a focus on implementation of priorities identified as the result of the recent EPA Brownfields Area-wide Planning project spearheaded by the City of Lowell, and other important planning efforts undertaken by the City of Lowell.

The Ayer’s City Industrial Park area was the focus of a 2010 U.S. EPA Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Pilot grant, which enabled the city to prepare a vision for the brownfields in the area that focuses on supporting and enhancing existing businesses, attracting new development, creating new jobs, creating attractive links between residences and the district, and enhancing connections to natural resources. – See more at: http://blogs.lowellsun.com/thecolumn/2014/02/18/manufacturing-to-take-center-stage-in-lowell/#sthash.O3YpJ3eP.d9fZcrto.dpuf